By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With the current prep football season heading into November this week across South Mississippi, it’s time for our 11th installment of “A Look Ahead” here at SouthMiss6 Sports.

“A Look Ahead” has been a part of the journalistic fabric of prep football across the “Southern Six” for most of the past three decades. Each week of the season on Monday, we’ll take a look at the action set to kick off in that particular week all across this region.

The regular season wins down in the three largest classifications this week while the playoffs start for rhe other four..

Here are “7 games in the Southern 6” to keep an eye on this week:

1. South Pike at Pass Christian (Game of the Week) — An historic regular season for the Pirates results in them hosting this opening round game in the Class 4A South State playoffs Friday night in what has become the friendly confines of Buddy McDonald Stadium Friday night. Pass is in the postseason for the third straight season under the direction of head coach Jeff Stockstill, and the 9-1 Pirates are a perfect 5-0 at home this season. Stockstill’s squad is the top seed in Region 8-4A for the first time ever, after winning a region title for the first time since the implementation of a statewide playoff system in the state of Mississippi 44 years ago. South Pike comes in at 3-6 overall and as the fourth seed in Region 7-4A. This is just the second meeting all-time between the two teams, after the Jaguars thumped PCHS 48-6 in the second round of the playoffs in 2019.
2. Gautier at Pascagoula — The renewal of the “Singing River Classic” sees the Gators head east down U.S. Highway 90 a bit to take on the Panthers at War Memorial Stadium Thursday night in the regular season finale for both teams. Pascagoula leads this all-time series 13-9, after an exciting 38-31 home win by Gautier last season. And even though the Gators moved up a classification and into Region 4-6A with PHS this year, There’s not much drama involved in this annual affair this year though as the Panthers have already secured the second seed in the region race and Gautier will miss the state playoffs for the first time in five years.
3. Biloxi at D’Iberville — For the third straight season these two neighboring rivals end the regular season against one another on a Thursday night, and for the second consecutive season the contest carries with it playoff implications in Region 4-7A. The Warriors have already clinched a berth in the upcoming Class 7A South State playoffs, and even though the Indians are in a much better position to still be playing next week than they were next week, they still need some things to go just right this week to clinch another postseason berth. This is the 35th all-time meeting between the two teams on the gridiron, and the Indians hold a slight 19-15 lead after Biloxi pulled out a wild 24-23 come-from-behind win last year at home. That decision put the Indians up 5-4 over the last nine meetings. All 34 meetings between the two have come since a state-wide playoff system was implemented in the state of Mississippi in 1981.
4. Ocean Springs at St. Martin — Yet another case in Region 4-7A play where one team has already clinched a berth in the the upcoming Class 7A South State playoffs while the other is still looking for a path to do so as well. The Greyhounds are the second seed in the league and really have nothing at stake this week. The Yellow Jackets need a win to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time in seven years. This marks the 61st all-time meeting between the two teams on the football field, and OSHS has completely dominated the series 49-11. The Greyhounds have won seven straight in the series, and 18 out of the last 19, after a 42-15 win last season.
5. PRC at Picayune — The longtime and neighboring rivals face off in November for the second straight season at Lee-Triplett Stadium Thursday night as this old time rivalry is renewed to end the regular season for the first time since 2018. The Maroon Tide leads the all-time series 27-6, and Picayune has won eight straight over the Blue Devils with the last PRC win coming in the regular season finale in 2015 also in Picayune. The Maroon Tide, which is on a 28-game region win streak, is the top seed from Region 4-6A once again and just won their fifth straight league title, while PRC is the fourth seed from Region 4-6A and is returning to the state playoffs for the second straight season.
6. Poplarville at Forrest County AHS — The defending Class 4A state champion Hornets open defense ofc their crown in Brooklyn Friday night. Poplarville finished as the third seed in Region 7-4A, while the Aggies erned the second seed behind Pass Christian in Region 8-4A.
7. Region 4-5A — Stone, which hosts East Central Thursday night, has wrapped up the region title. The rest is a mess…